A Child Who Called “It”

A Child Who Called “It”




In Dave Pelzer's memoir A Child Called “It” the antagonist, “Mother” is evil for abusing her own loving child. Dave faced emotional and physical abuse from his mother but managed to overcome his situation. “in the years before I was abused, my family was the “Brady Bunch” of the 1960's”. When Dave was young he was a boy “blessed” with a loving and perfect parents. His mother loved him, they would go on vacations and adventures together. These were distant memories of Dave's “Childhood” until he was 4 years old his relationship with his mother has changed. A loving caring mother that once loved her son so very much, turned into the sick devil.


His mother was so evil that she would not give her son food and make him fight hunger. His mother would play “games” with him in order for Dave to survive. She treated him like a dog. As time goes on she becomes more abusive and evil, inventing more and more horrible “games” to play with Dave. Her favorite game was the gas chamber, where she mixes a bucket of ammonia and Clorox and locks him in the bathroom to breath in the mixture. She also played other games from waiving a knife to his face. The most evil thing she did in the book was that she stabbed him in the chest, after that his mother did not consider him as a son but a slave and no longer a boy, an “It”. His mom made him stand in the garage all day until he was order to do chores or go to bed. He was no longer allowed to eat or play with his brothers. And she made him go to bed and go to school with the same clothes every day.

“ i hate you I wish you were dead!”. Mother is very cruel and she frighten the whole family, she even frighten her own husband. Because Dave's father did not have courage to help him, he was afraid that his wife will hurt him as well because she was so evil. Dave's mother behavior began to worsen especially when Dave's father started to work 24-hour shifts. Dave went through so much hell with his mother, and there was nothing he could have done about it because he knew if he told, it will only get worse. His mom had no rights or purpose to abuse her son like that.

The beginning of this novel is the ending. Dave was saved by a police officer. During school Dave was sent to the nurse. She examined his body. She found many bruises. Dave tried to lie about it saying he got his by a bat, but he ended up telling her the truth. Dave was taken to the police station, the officer called his mom and told her Dave was in custody. Dave telling the nurse how his mom abuse him is the climax in the story